Alumni clubs around the country--ranging from those who hold a few backyard barbecues a year to the New York club, which has its own building complete with squash courts--encourage their members to develop contacts within the network.

Jonathan L. Miller '67 has been president of the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Central New York for a year. He says he's trying to liven up his once-sleepy club in order to provide more networking opportunities.

Miller says that many students have lined up summer jobs through the contacts they made at the club.

A Tangled Web

Alumni say the relationships they form in college and nurture as graduates often pay off dividends in their professional life.

Mascot Network's president, Jaja S. Jackson '95, founded his company with 13 other classmates at Harvard business school. He has since tried to recruit undergraduates by postering in Houses.

"It's huge," Jackson says of the network. "It's the most valuable thing I think I've encountered besides my own neighborhood ties."

Stephen W. Pollock '84, president of WetFeet.com, an Internet site for job seekers, says he got his start through Harvard alumni he had never met.